Comparison

Ruddarr vs Coax

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Ruddarr

Control your movie, documentary, and TV series collections remotely. Browse upcoming releases, manage your media library, and receive notifications. Customize the app's appearance and sync settings across devices.

Highlights
  • Manage movies and TV series
  • Browse upcoming releases calendar
  • Receive fine-grained notifications
  • View activity queue and history
  • Switch between multiple instances
  • Customize app appearance
  • Synchronize settings via iCloud
Features
Read full description

Ruddarr is a beautifully designed, open source, privacy-first companion app for Radarr and Sonarr instances. Manage your movies, documentaries and TV series from anywhere, anytime. Features: • Manage movies and TV series • Browse upcoming releases in the calendar • Receive fine-grained notifications • View activity queue tasks and history events • Switch between multiple instances • Customize the app color scheme and appearance • Synchronize settings/instances between devices (iCloud) • Automate actions using Siri Shortcuts • Connect to reverse proxies using custom HTTP headers • Use Spotlight search to quickly jump to media • Fully localized, ready to be translated Notifications require a subscription to Ruddarr+, because sending push notifications to devices requires reliable server infrastructure, which incurs monthly operating expenses for this free, open-source project. Alternatively, *arrs come with many notification integrations that can be self-hosted. Requirements: • Ruddarr does not provide any media and requires a Radarr or Sonarr instance to interact with. - - - Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Coax

Experience your Plex media library like a traditional cable TV experience. This app automatically generates channels from your existing content, allowing you to randomly discover movies and shows without the pressure of choosing.

Highlights
  • On-device Plex library channel surfing
  • Zero-setup integration
  • Automatic channel guide generation
  • Customizable channel categories (genre, decade, actor, etc.)
  • Create channels from Plex Collections
  • Unify TV and movie libraries
  • Adjustable number of channels
Features
Read full description

Demolish the tyranny of too much choice, say "NO" to BigAlgo, and just Relax with Coax. Within seconds, you'll be flipping through a schedule made entirely of your own home media server content. Jump right in with the on-screen cable guide and watch whatever's on, just like the old days. You can't pause, you can't skip forward, you can't rewind - all you can do is change the channel. Experience the joy of randomly happening upon a great scene in a movie you forgot you had, or a TV show marathon for an old favorite. Coax requires no setup at all - it uses the metadata your media library already has. If you want, you can create your own custom Lineups, with all sorts of simple yet powerful scheduling rules - create a Saturday Morning Cartoons Lineup for your inner (or actual) child, or a Late Night Thrillers Lineup for date night. Important: This app requires a Plex account and access to a Plex Media Server (or Jellyfin, or Emby). Coax does not provide or distribute any media; it only connects to content you already own. How to configure your Lineups: • Coax scans your home media libraries and generates a channel guide based on your content’s metadata. • Select which channel categories you want: Genre, Decade, Recent Additions, Actor, Studio, Director, and Collections. • Create 100% custom channels using Collections. • Unify your libraries to mix TV and movie channels. • Adjust the number of channels you want to generate. •  Customize the time between your programs with Gap Content - play Trailers, or content from another Library if you want! Coax is your personal “cable box” for your own content — no extra accounts, no third-party streaming, just your Plex library organized in a fun, nostalgic way. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ruddarr4 screens
Coax4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ruddarr at 4.9 against Coax's 4.2. Ruddarr also leads on ratings volume (750 vs 41) and review sentiment (90% vs 77%). Coax's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Ruddarr sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $5.99 per year and Coax sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ruddarr holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ruddarr has 750 ratings behind it against 41, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Ruddarr's written reviews are positive against 77% of Coax's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ruddarr ships an update monthly, Coax weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Ruddarr versus Coax: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRuddarrCoax
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (750 ratings) — better4.2 (41 ratings)
Positive reviews90.1% of reviews — better76.9% of reviews
Number of ratings750 — better41
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS26.018.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB57 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperRuddarrOut to Lunch Productions, LLC

Customer experience

Ruddarr

All ratings750 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral0.7%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews222 reviews
Positive90.1%
Neutral2.7%
Negative7.2%

Coax

All ratings41 ratings
Positive80.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative19.5%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral3.8%
Negative19.2%

Bugs and requests

Ruddarr

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Fails with error when trying to add any service
  • Crashes and freezes all the time

Requested features

3 requests
  • Support one time purchase
  • List view not just posters
  • Latest releases or trending lists that could be pulled from trakt or IMDb

Coax

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ruddarr

Subscriptions1
  • Ruddarr+$5.991 Year
3 purchases

Coax

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly - 1st Week Free7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Annual - 1st Week Free7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$74.99

Questions

Is Ruddarr free?
Ruddarr is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Coax free?
Coax is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ruddarr or Coax?
Ruddarr is rated higher. Ruddarr averages 4.9 out of 5 from 750 ratings, while Coax averages 4.2 from 41 ratings.
Do Ruddarr or Coax have ads?
Neither Ruddarr nor Coax shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ruddarr or Coax?
Ruddarr ships an update monthly, and Coax weekly. Most recently, Ruddarr was updated on October 19, 2026 and Coax on October 18, 2026.

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